Did you know that's a real song? I'll include the link to the video below. My girls love the song I Want a Hippopotomus for Christmas so I thought this was really clever.
Anyway, I am getting some plastic surgery for Halloween, which is why I'm updating my blog. My final surgery (well, hopefully, it should be my final surgery unless something goes wrong) is Thursday. It's outpatient surgery and they say I should be out within a few hours and it is really a very minor procedure but of course it's scary going under anesthesia and then I will have some muscle pain and limited mobility for about two weeks so I'm a little bit scared. But it's also one step closer to being DONE with active treatment. Woot Woot.
That's all!
Here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQkql2vW4w
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Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
I'm Working Hard for the Money (again)
(This post is from September 30th, accidentally saved to drafts, so posting three weeks late)
Today was my first day back at work. And in usual Cisco style, it has been nothing but goodness. My boss wrote me a super nice welcome back note, almost every single person copied on that note wrote me their own personal note welcoming me back, and everyone is asking how they can help make the transition back as easy as possible. Cisco people continue to amaze me.
It's nice to be back and know I am getting a paycheck also. There was an issue with my disability case in early September and so I actually haven't been paid for several weeks while I appeal the premature closure. Knowing that I am back contributing to something besides my own health AND getting paid to do so is a relief. :)
So, what has been going on these past two months since I last blogged? Thankfully, not too much. I have been getting my every third week IVs of herceptin and those have been mostly uneventful excluding the one in early September where the nurse hit a nerve putting in my IV which hurt like bloody hell. Apparently that is sort of common and it causes temporary nerve damage that takes some time to heal so my hand and arm still have this weird and painful tingling sensation when I move them certain ways or when the girls hold/squeeze my hands so that was a bummer.
I started tamoxifen and really don't seem to be having any major side effects. I felt a bit of joint pain at the beginning, and am having some issues with my feet, but my doctor thinks that I may be having issues more related to working out and being heavier than having to do with the medicine. I haven't experienced mood swings or anything really terrible yet so I am very grateful and optimistic about the next five-ten years.
My hair is growing back - of course my eyebrows are fully grown and back to crazy eighties-style in need of some waxing, my eyelashes are in but super short (and they may stay that way, that makes me sad) and I have about half an inch of hair all over my head...I'm looking forward to enough hair to have a hair style and go hat-less. Hats will never be fun again. I hate them and they make my head hot. :)
We also had our summer vacation in San Diego and celebrated both girls' birthdays. It was a nice summer after the intensity of chemo, slower than usual, but with lots of time spent together as a family. It's definitely sad to see that end.
Looking forward, tomorrow is October 1st which begins Breast Cancer Awareness month. I'm not sure what role I'll choose to play in promoting that this year, but I do think it's important. People really think you are so "lucky" to get breast cancer as opposed to other cancers, and they sort of minimize the impact thinking that breast cancer is "easy" and that no one dies from it. We all know none of that is true. I'd like to bring some awareness to the disease but in a non-annoying way...am going to have to think about that.
It's also the start of the holiday season. I am really looking forward to the holidays this year as last year I got my first biopsy the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and then was officially diagnosed the Monday after so Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday (which was one week before my major surgery) were all sort of cloudy and sad and scary. This year I am celebrating life. I already talked about this in my last post, but I think that is the one gift that people who have to deal with cancer get, a sort of different lens on celebrations and family-time...
This is a good video that shows what it's like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eahGwZ9VLA&sf4241246=1&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop
Hope everyone is doing well!
Today was my first day back at work. And in usual Cisco style, it has been nothing but goodness. My boss wrote me a super nice welcome back note, almost every single person copied on that note wrote me their own personal note welcoming me back, and everyone is asking how they can help make the transition back as easy as possible. Cisco people continue to amaze me.
It's nice to be back and know I am getting a paycheck also. There was an issue with my disability case in early September and so I actually haven't been paid for several weeks while I appeal the premature closure. Knowing that I am back contributing to something besides my own health AND getting paid to do so is a relief. :)
So, what has been going on these past two months since I last blogged? Thankfully, not too much. I have been getting my every third week IVs of herceptin and those have been mostly uneventful excluding the one in early September where the nurse hit a nerve putting in my IV which hurt like bloody hell. Apparently that is sort of common and it causes temporary nerve damage that takes some time to heal so my hand and arm still have this weird and painful tingling sensation when I move them certain ways or when the girls hold/squeeze my hands so that was a bummer.
I started tamoxifen and really don't seem to be having any major side effects. I felt a bit of joint pain at the beginning, and am having some issues with my feet, but my doctor thinks that I may be having issues more related to working out and being heavier than having to do with the medicine. I haven't experienced mood swings or anything really terrible yet so I am very grateful and optimistic about the next five-ten years.
My hair is growing back - of course my eyebrows are fully grown and back to crazy eighties-style in need of some waxing, my eyelashes are in but super short (and they may stay that way, that makes me sad) and I have about half an inch of hair all over my head...I'm looking forward to enough hair to have a hair style and go hat-less. Hats will never be fun again. I hate them and they make my head hot. :)
We also had our summer vacation in San Diego and celebrated both girls' birthdays. It was a nice summer after the intensity of chemo, slower than usual, but with lots of time spent together as a family. It's definitely sad to see that end.
Looking forward, tomorrow is October 1st which begins Breast Cancer Awareness month. I'm not sure what role I'll choose to play in promoting that this year, but I do think it's important. People really think you are so "lucky" to get breast cancer as opposed to other cancers, and they sort of minimize the impact thinking that breast cancer is "easy" and that no one dies from it. We all know none of that is true. I'd like to bring some awareness to the disease but in a non-annoying way...am going to have to think about that.
It's also the start of the holiday season. I am really looking forward to the holidays this year as last year I got my first biopsy the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and then was officially diagnosed the Monday after so Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday (which was one week before my major surgery) were all sort of cloudy and sad and scary. This year I am celebrating life. I already talked about this in my last post, but I think that is the one gift that people who have to deal with cancer get, a sort of different lens on celebrations and family-time...
This is a good video that shows what it's like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eahGwZ9VLA&sf4241246=1&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop
Hope everyone is doing well!
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